NDCHealth, Roxio, CBRL, more

Friday stocks to watch

Following a board meeting on Thursday, AOL Time Warner
AOL
confirmed that Ted Turner will remain as a director of the world's largest media company, said spokeswoman Tricia Primrose. Turner had said Tuesday that he was leaning toward staying on the board.

Apple Computer
AAPL, -1.53%
said after the market closed Thursday that its board approved stronger corporate governance measures. After naming former Vice President Al Gore to its board a day earlier, Apple voted to add two more independent directors, expand the role of independent committees and lower the issuance of stock options as a percentage of total options and shares outstanding to 16 percent, down from 23 percent. Shares of Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple closed 4 cents lower at $14.91 Thursday.

Electronic Data Systems said late Thursday that it's replaced top executive Dick Brown with Michael Jordan, the former chairman and CEO of CBS. Also, Jeffrey Heller becomes president and chief operating officer, effective immediately. Shares of EDS
EDS
closed at $15.76, up 6 cents, ahead of the announcement. See full story.

Intuit
INTU, -1.60%
lowered its growth projections Thursday for the second half of the year, citing the nation's economic slowdown. The stock tumbled as much as 12 percent in after-hours trading. Intuit said it expects revenue of $1.65 billion to $1.69 billion for the fiscal year ending in July, and pro forma earnings per share of $1.30 to $1.35.

Palm
PALM, -0.67%
said late Thursday that it lost $172.3 million, or $5.93 per share, in its third quarter. This compares to a profit of $2.9 million in the year-ago period. Excluding certain charges, Palm lost $26.5 million, or 91 cents per share, which matched analysts' expectations. While Palm's sales fell 28.6 percent to $209 million in the quarter, analysts expected sales to fall to $207 million. Shares of Palm rose slightly in after-hours trading action. The stock gained 15 cents to $10.85 in regular trading.

Electronics manufacturer Solectron
SLR, -3.03%
said it would shed 12,000 jobs and take $300 million in restructuring charges in the next several quarters as it reduces costs. CEO Mike Cannon said most of the job cuts would result from eliminating and consolidating factories in North America and Europe. The company also reported a second-quarter net loss of $111 million on sales of $2.8 billion. Solectron's revenue came within its previous estimate range of $2.8 billion to $3 billion, but fell short of analysts' estimates of $2.95 billion. On a per-share basis, Solectron's net loss was 13 cents. The company met the pro forma estimates of Wall Street analysts with a loss of 1 cent a share. Going forward, the company estimates its third-quarter sales will be between $2.6 billion and $2.9 billion, with a loss between 1 cent and 4 cents a share.

Spanish-language television broadcaster Univision Communications said after the market closed Thursday that it expects first-quarter earnings to come in at 4 to 5 cents a share, compared to the 4 cent average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call. Univision also said it still expects to close its $3.5 billion acquisition of Hispanic Broadcasting
HSP, -0.87%
"soon." Shares of Los Angeles-based Univision
UVN, -10.00%
rose 66 cents to close at $26.06 ahead of the news. See full story.

Teen retailer Vans lost 51 cents a share in the fiscal third quarter, including $15.3 million in charges related to skatepark write-downs. Last year, Vans reported a profit of $483,000, or 3 cents a share. For the quarter, Vans said sales were flat against last year's at $82.1 million. Without the charges, Vans -- which sells clothing and accessories for skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding and surfing -- said it would have made 3 cents a share, in line with Wall Street's expectations. Vans said the "recently commenced war" with Iraq makes forecasting difficult, but it expects at least a "comparable" loss to the 24 cents a share in the same period last year. Vans
VANS
shares rose 5 cents to $4 ahead of the news.

Thursday decliners

Allianz
AZ, -4.18%
(840400) slumped nearly 7 percent Thursday after Standard & Poor's lowered its rating on German insurer to "AA-" from "AA" based on the disappointing earnings performance, weakened capitalization and financial flexibility. The outlook is negative. "Allianz's operating performance, although historically very strong, has deteriorated significantly over the past two years," said credit analyst Wolfgang Rief. Separately, the company announced that it would issue more equity.

CBRL Group
CBRL, +0.33%
fell more than 6 percent after the company said comparable-store restaurant sales are down 2 to 2.5 percent at its Cracker Barrel stores, which includes a 2 to 2.5 percent higher average check. The company attributed the softer than expected sales trend to severe winter weather and the uncertainty over the impact of the military conflict on consumer behavior. Analyst Howard Penney at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey followed by downgrading the stock to "underweight" from "equal weight."

NDCHealth
NDC
tumbled more than 33 percent after the health information services provider indicated that full fiscal 2003 earnings and revenue would fall short of expectations due to the current economic environment and the timing and expenses associated with product introductions. Analyst Raymond Falci at Bear Stearns followed by downgrading the stock to "underperform" from "peer perform."

Plexus
PLXS, -1.32%
was pummeled for a more than 5 percent loss after it warned that fiscal second-quarter losses would be wider than expected due to continued weakness in all of its end markets. The provider of engineering and product development services now expects to lose 10 to 12 cents a share in the quarter ending March, versus prior forecasts of a loss of 2 to 5 cents a share. Revenue is expected to be $190 million. In late January, the company had projected revenue to be $190 million to $200 million.

Textron
TXT, +0.19%
dropped almost 16 percent after saying Thursday that it would reduce its 2003 earnings forecast as a result of a lowered outlook for business jet deliveries at its Cessna Aircraft unit. The company now expects to ship 180 to 195 jets in 2003, versus prior expectations of 220 jets. Textron said it would provide details on its earnings outlook after it has fully assessed the impact of lower shipments. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call are currently projecting earnings of $2.93 for the year, on average.

Tweeter Home Entertainment
TWTR, -1.69%
was knocked nearly 10 percent lower after it warned that it would lose 6 to 10 cents a share in its fiscal second quarter, versus the average analyst profit estimate compiled by Thomson First Call of 2 cents. The consumer electronics retailer also adjusted its comparable-store sales outlook for the quarter ending March to a decline of 12 to 15 percent from a 5 to 8 percent decline. The company said it witnessed sales weakness in all regions, but particularly in the Northeast due to severe weather.

Thursday advancers

CAE
CGT, +0.00%
surged almost 8 percent after the provider of aviation training services said late Wednesday that it had withdrawn its proposed private placement of convertible debt. "The available terms of the proposed issue to not reflect CAE's value or the best interest of our shareholders," said chief executive Derek Burney.

Shares of El Paso
EP, +4.88%
jumped more than 16 percent on a report that the natural gas pipeline operator would pay California $1.7 billion to settle lawsuits and end investigations into charges of market manipulation in that state. An El Paso spokesperson said the company had yet to reach a settlement and declined to comment on the report by the San Francisco Chronicle. El Paso Chief Executive Ronald Kuehn indicated a settlement could be near in a letter to employees Tuesday. See full story.

Nike said after the bell Wednesday that earnings for the third quarter rolled in at $124.7 million, or 47 cents a share, a penny above the average estimate of analysts reporting to Multex. Nike shares
NKE, -0.30%
tacked on almost 6 percent. See full story.

Shares of Stillwater Mining
SWC, -3.15%
shot up nearly 8 percent after the palladium and platinum producer said that it had received an amendment to its credit agreement, giving the company immediate access to $17.5 million of undrawn funds. The company said the amendment also allows the Norilsk Nickel deal to proceed, subject to shareholder approval.

Viacom
VIA
rose more than 5 percent after the company said it had reached new employment agreements with Chairman and CEO Sumner Redstone and President and COO Mel Karmazin in pacts that become effective May 5. Karmazin's contract has a three-year term. "I am very pleased that Viacom will continue to benefit from Mel's leadership and talent," Redstone said in a statement. Karmazin said he is "excited about the future and working with Sumner." Viacom owns a significant stake in MarketWatch.com, the publisher of this report. See full story.

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